Europe's Most Wanted
by PunkMutantGargoyleChica
Summary: The zoosters brougt a friend from Africa with them. Vitaly/OC
1. My Friends The Zoosters

what if the gang had another with them. what if the gang took a friend from Africa to Europe?

Issibah (name i totally made up) aka Izzy, she's a black leopard a few inches taller than Alex and has bright yellow eyes and a burn scar on right hip. She was once part of a circus from the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain a few years before she was sold to the resever to help repopulate, so yeah, she has the accent. She was used for jumping through a hoop, but in her spare time, she'd dance and sing, but especially knew how to juggle with anything (clubs, burning torches, knives, produce, etc...). Sadly, She had an accident with a fire hoop and was burned so badly that the fur never grew back. She was never helpful with repopulating the species, but she was accepted by the pride of lions. especially by Makunga, kinda creepy. When Alex and his parents were banished, Makunga keeps pushing Izzy to be his wife and queen. When saying no doesn't help, She actually attacks him and nearly kills him. The only reason she didn't is because Teetsi pulls her off of him and restrains her. Makunga then says that she's banished as well. While Alex and Marty go find water, Izzy stays behind to help Gloria dig for water. She chooses to stay with the rest of the animals and wait for Alex when the plane is used to rescue him. When they returned with water and Makunga is dragged away by the old lady, she attends Skipper's wedding and is in the end sequence. By the way, Izzy is being voiced by Selma Hayek. She voiced Kitty Softpaws if you didn't know.

* * *

Izzy walked over to find her friends in the old mud hole with a creation of some sort. "What is this." She asked.

The zoosters turned to face her with crying faces. "This is Alex's birthday present. It's New York City."

"New York City?" Izzy asked. "It's much smaller than I thought it would be?"

"No, no, no, Izzy." Melman said. "This is just a small scale model of New York City."

"Oh, guys. You both made and ruined my day." Alex said.

Gloria sniffled before saying, "Make a wish, sweetheart." She held out a cake with a lit candle.

The moment Alex blew the flame out, Julien, Maurice and Mort jumped out of the cake. "Your wish has come true." Julien said confidently. Maurice didn't look so happy since he was holding Julien up. But Mort was happy and excited.

"Oh, yay!" The mouse lemur cheered. His stomach then growled. "My tummy is speaking to me!" He then vomited on the plate with a smile still on his face. Everyone cringed except for Izzy. Being from a circus, she was used to seeing children do this.

"Uh, I wouldn't eat that side of the cake if I were you." Julien said with a disgusted look.

Gloria angrily threw the plate of lemurs away and asked, "Alex, what was you're wish?"

"I wished we could go home. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love this." Alex gestured to the model of the zoo. "But it's not the real thing."

"Well, that's because it's a mud model, Alex." Marty explained. "It's not really New York. I hope that was clear."

"What are we doing?" The lion suddenly asked.

"Talking about a miniscule mud model of a colossal city." Izzy said. Marty chuckled.

"No, I mean, here we are relying on the penguins to come back for us. But...we should just go to Monte Carlo and get them." Alex explained.

"How do a lion, a zebra, a giraffe and a hippo walk into a casino in Monte Carlo?" Melman asked.

"I don't know. Ask the rabbi!" Marty joked.

"Hey, I'm serious." The giraffe stated.

"C'mon. We can do it. We can do anything! It's us!" Alex exclaimed. "We've gone halfway around the world! Compared with that, Monte Carlo's just a hop, skip and a swim away!" Melman nodded while Gloria giggled in excitement and Marty smiled. Alex then put his paw forwad and said, "To home."

The other large animals agreed. But Alex seemed to be waiting for another agreement. He looked over and saw the sad look on Izzy's face. "Izzy...We wanna go home. But it's not fair to you to just leave you here." That was when his ears and smile perked up. "You wanna join us?"

Izzy's face brightened at the thought of traveling again. She nodded vigorously, wanting the adventure to start. The black leopard put her paw on top of the others and said, "Home."

"Tell ya what, bet those penguins will be glad to see us." Alex smirked.

"Yeah," Marty agreed. "They're probably bored outta their minds!"

The zoosters and their friends and sadly, tiny fuzzy parasites called lemurs, started walking to the edge of the continent. It was strange though how it didn't seem totake that long to reach Monte Carlo, because the next thing she knew, herself and the zoosters were rising from the water in diving masks and snorkles to find Monte Carlo in front of them. In order, it was Gloria, Izzy, Marty, Alex and Melman. Melman said something no one understood dew to the snorkle. He quickly spat it out and repeated himself. "There it is. The casino."

Alex did the same thing before he pulled his snorkle out of his mouth. "I said, 'Perfect. That's where we'll find the penguins.'"

Marty even started speaking through his snorkle. It irritated both Gloria and Izzy to find out that he was only babling because he found it funny.

"C'mon, guys." Alex whispered. "Operation Penguin Extraction does not include levity. We can't draw attention to ourselves."

How exactly do you plan for us to not draw attention, Alex?" Izzy asked.

" It's simple. We're invisible! I'm talking really, really quiet." And with that, the five large mammals dove under the water to sneak into the port.

They were able to sneak into the city and climb onto the rooftops and get to the casino. "Ok. Phase One. We break into the casino, grab the penguins, And get them to take us back to New York in the monkey powered Super Plane!" Alex said.

"Check." Marty stated.

"Phase Two. We chew out the penguins for abandoning us in Africa."

"Check." Melman said.

"Phase Three. We apologise to the penguins for overly harsh chewing outing, but we've gotten our point across. Phase Four. Back to New York City." The other zoosters agreed hapily wi the last phase. But Izzy remained silent. "Izzy, don't you like the plan?" Alex asked as they kept searching for the right roof.

"I do, Alex. I'm just nervous. How will the zoo like me?" The leopard asked.

"Are you kidding?" Gloria asked. "Baby, they'll love you."

"She's right, Izzy." Melman agreed. "Back when we were still at the zoo, do you know how long they've been looking to add more big cats? Years. That's how long. You'll be just what they're looking for." The leopard smiled at her friends as they continued their search.

When they found the right roof, they came across five ventilation ducts. And the one Izzy had her eyes on was shaped like a triangle. "Alright. We take these ventilation ducts to the crawlspace above the casino where we find the penguins." The lion explained. "I just need to figure out which duct each of us should take."

After sorting out which duct to take, Izzy ran to hers and slid through it rather quickly. When she flew out, she saw that she crashed into the boys. "¡Ay! ¡La cosa peor que yo jamás me arrastré por!" She grumbled in her native language.

That was when they heard Gloria scream, and it came from the round duct right above them. "Uh oh." Alex said. All four animals tried to move, only to find themselve tangled together.

Just as Gloria was about to squish them, she got stuck just inches above them. "Hi, honey." Melman smiled. Alex and Marty went to find the chimps and penguins while Melman and Izzy were helping Gloria get unstuck. "Okay, okay. I got you. I got you, honey." While Melman was trying to twist Gloria free, he accidentally touched her ticklish spot. Izzy kept thinking that he was doing it on purpose because he always boasted how much he loved her laugh.

"Okay, Gloria. Let out all the air right now." She said. The hippo did as she was told and fell from the duct with ease. She then looked over and saw Alex holding a clock and shooting a harpoon to the wooden ceiling beam so he could godown to th casino on a rope attached to a fishing rod.

"Okay. In exactly two minutes and seventeen seconds, the lemurs will cut the power. I drop down, grab the penguins. You crank me up, and we are out of here." The King of New York explained.

"Oh, oh, oh! Let me drop down! I'll grab the penguins!" Marty suggested.

"You don't have fingers, Marty. Thses are things a leader has to think about." Alex pointed out as he cranked himself from the ground.

"Why should you be the leader?" Marty asked. "Why not me?"

"'Cause I'm the phase tracker." The lion explained.

Izzy noticed the glass starting to crack. "Uh, guys?"

"How did I get phased out?" Marty yelled.

"You're part of a phase. A phase isn't something you own, it's something yo're in." Alex reassured.

"Hey, Guys?" Izzy asked as she saw the cracks growing, though no one paid attention.

"Who voted you Grand Phase Master anyway?" The zebra questioned.

"Me! I voted me! 'Cause I'm the leader!" Alex stated.

"Maybe I should be in charge." Melman said as he stepped onto the glass, causing the cracks to worsen.

"Melman!" Gloria whined.

"I am a doctor." The giraffe explained.

"Guys?!" Izzy yelled again, and again, no one paid her any attention.

"Why can't we all be leaders?" Marty demanded.

"Enough!" Gloria exclaimed as she stepped toward the glass. "I'm gonna lead."

"Gloria! NO!" Izzy exclaimed. But it was too late. Gloria's weight made the glass give in and break, causing all the animals to fall through the ceiling and into the casino.

* * *

¡Ay! ¡La cosa peor que yo jamás me arrastré por! - Ouch! Worse thing I ever crawled through!


	2. Enter Dubois

Izzy fell on the zoosters that weren't hooked to a cable...meaning she landed on Gloria, Marty and Melmen while Alex was dangling above her. The lion only chuckled nervously, which sent every human into a panic. The humans started to run in a panicked frenzy. Alex fell on top of the others and stood with a stern look on his face. He lifted a man's clothes to reveal the chimps and penguins. "What's new, pussycat?" Mason asked nervously.

Skipper then waved his flippers and said, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

"Marty, what phase are we at?" Alex asked.

"Uhh, Phase Three: Apologize!" The zebra said frantically.

"Right." The lion responded before turning to the penguins. "Oh, man, we are so sorry."

"Apology accepted." Skipper smirked. "Let's roll!"

Alex then realized his mistake and turned to his best friend as the animals followed the penguins. "Marty! We skipped Phase Two! We didn't chew them out!"

"Don't look at me! I'm just following the leader." The zebra responded.

Suddenly, the light were flashing on and off. As they flashed, Izzy saw her friends in different positions everytime. "What are you guys doing?" She asked as she ran.

"What the heck is going on with the lights?" Alex asked.

The animals found a door that read "Le Power". Openning it, they found the lemurs dancing. "What are you doing?!" Gloria yelled, causing them to freeze in place. "Come on!"

The animals quickly ran to find the building was being put on lockdown. "What do we do?" Melman asked.

Gloria showed her game face. She was ready to do some damage. "All right, everybody, stand back. I got this one." She then ran full force and crashed into the metal barrier. All she was able to do was leave an indention. She wobbly came back over with her hand on her forehead. "Never mind."

"Well, you only get one chance at a first impression." Skipper commented to Kowalski before he whistled. Suddenly, a huge van burst through the barrier and swept up the animals before taking off outside and riding off.

"What just happened?" Alex asked.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked.

"Where are we? What is this?" Gloria asked.

"We call it the Luxury Assault Recreational Vehicle." Skipper replied with a smirk. "Step on it, boys!" And with that, the van sped off. "Kowalski, signal the chimps to meet us at the rendezvous point with the super plane." The penguin ordered. "Hotel Ambassador. Let's movie it."

Melman was having fun with his head out the window, that is until he was hit by a street sign. While shaking it off, he noticed that they were being chased. "Guys, we got a tail."

"Paparazzi!" Julien cheered.

"Pedal to the medal, Private." Skipper ordered. The smaller penguin nodded as he floored the gas.

Julien ran and opened the back door to the van as he yelled, "Don't take any pictures, please." He started. The animals looked out the open door and saw a red head lady with four men at her side, each driving a red moped. "Hi! Here I am!" Julien posed. A shot was taken, alright. But not the kind he was hoping for. She shot and hit him with a dart gun. Julien immediately went limp and couldn't speak clearly.

"No more pictures!" Mort yelled as he and Maurice closed the doors.

"Medic!" Skipper yelled.

Izzy looked out the back window and saw the woman chasing them as if her life depended on it. "Esta mujer es o desesperado o loco! Y yo honestamente no sé que es peor." She yelled.

"ETA to rendezvous point?" Skipper asked.

"Two minutes, thirty-seven seconds, sir." Kowalski answered.

"Man your battle stations!" The lead penguin ordered. The other birds followed order.

"Hey! Wait! Nobody's at the wheel!" Alex cried out. "Hey! Get back there! Negative on the driver! There's no driver!"

"You've made your point, Alex!" Izzy yelled as she clung to the floor at the back of the van.

"Help! Nobody's driving! Oh, no! We're gonna die!" Gloria screamed. The van kept crashing into other cars outside and was driving on the sidewalk.

"Well don't just sit there, fancy pants. Grab the wheel!" Skipper ordered.

"Are you kidding? I don't drive! I'm a New Yorker." The lion complained.

"Move over, Miss Daisy!" Marty exclaimed. He quickly sat in the driver's seat and took the wheel.

"What are you doing? Zebras don't drive! Only penguins and people can drive!" Alex complained.

"What do all these buttons do?" Marty asked. His childish curiosity always got the better of him. He pushed a button that turned on the radio and played Journey's "Anyway You Want It" as loud as it could possibly be.

"Help me!" Melman yell as loud as he could when the van started to flip.

"Nice one, Stripes." Skipper commented when the van straightened.

"Crazy woman gaining!" Maurice yelled.

Izzy looked at the lead penguin with fear. "¡Skipper, haga algo!"

"Don't split your whiskers, Kitten. Our Omega-3 slick will take them down. Private, activate!" And Private pressed a buttoned that released a living fish filled slick behind the van. However, the woman was able to flip her moped and hold it over her head while she slid across the slick in her heels. When she reached the end of the slick, she flipped her moped over and rode it again. "She's good." Skipper commented. "Kowalski, intel."

The genius penguin nodded and did as he was ordered. After searching on his computer, he said, "Sir. We have a serious problem. Captain Chantal Dubois. Monaco Animal Control. Perfect case record."

Marty then drove the van through a tunnel. Sadly, he was on the wrong side of the road. "You're going the wrong way, Marty!" Alex yelled.

"Just call me Marty-O Andretti!"

"No. You're Sucky-O Andretti!"

"Stop backseat driving!"

I'm passenger seat driving. Give me the wheel."

"It's not a wheel, it's my baby!"

"Your hoofs aren't meant to be on a wheel!"

"Hey! Too late for you to drive!"

"Don't look at me!" (A/N: thats what she said lol XD) "Don't look at me when we argue! Look at the road!"

That was when Dubois rode up beside the van while standing on her moped. She was right up to the driver side window when she saw a lion and a zebra arguing with each other. Marty was the first to notice her. "Be cool, be cool." He then look at her. "Hi, Officer. Is there a problem?"

"Hi." Alex simply waved.

Dubois glared at them and pulled out a tranquilizer gun. The animals were immediately scared. Marty swerved and caused Dubois to fall behind. But she managed to gain back and jump onto the back of the van. When Phil saw her, he screamed like a little girl.

"W need more power." Skipper declared. He then jumped from his seat and pushed a red button. "Time to fire up Kowalski's nucular reactor." A strange green machine rose from the floor in front of Izzy.

"That a nuclear reactor?!" Both Gloria and Izzy screamed.

"Nucular." Skipper clarified.

"She's on the roof!" Melman yelled. Sure enough, Dubois was on the roof and trying to get to the door.

"But, sir, it's not ready." Kowalski explained. "The control rods will have to be calibrated." At this time, Izzy saw Dubois open the hatch at the top of the van. The officer glared down at her as she reached inside. Izzy, on basic instinct, narrowed her eyes, bared her teeth and roared. It made Dubois recoil enough to retreat. "And don't even ask me about the Uranium-238 blanket."

"Okay." Skipper agreed before pushing the button to turn on the reactor. It was like hyper speed on steroids. Dubois lost her grip and slipped off the van.

"Okay, Marty!" Alex explained. "We lost her! Maybe you could slow down now?!"

"I can't! There's no brakes!" The zebra exclaimed as he kept slamming on the useless brake pedal.

"No brakes?" Skipper asked Kowalski, who gave him a knowing smiling. "Well, way to commit, soldier."

The zoosters and Izzy kept screaming as the van sped passed warning signs, stating that the road was not finnished. They drove off the edge of the road and flew over the bulidings below. As the van descended, it hit the sign on top of the Hotel Ambassador ad skid across the grassy top. The van finally stopped at the edge of the hotel, nearly falling off. "Let's get out of here!" Alex yelled. The animals escaped from the back doors. Izzy quickly grabbed Mort and Maurice to help them get out quicker.

Once on the animals were on the roof, they looked back at the van to find Julien still inside. "Hey, where's everybody going?" He laughed. But as the van continued to tilt further, the lemur king began to scream. The van finally fell. Mort started whimpering while Maurice had a grin slowly spread across his face. But soon, Julien voice was heard. "I'm flying! I'm flying! I'm the first flying monkey!" The van had landed on top of the Super Plane, which was rising up with Julien on top. The animals cheered at the sight of the plane. Mort cheered for his king while Maurice grew a sad expression.

"That's our ticket outta here!" Marty cheered.

"Yeah, baby!" Melman exclaimed as he hugged Gloria.

Their little moment was interrupted when everyone heard an engine revving. The animals turned around to face the next building's roof top. From the starewell came Dubois on her moped. She sped up and took off from the roof. When it was clear that she'd make it, Alex ordered, "Everybody! On the monkey chain!" When Dubois landed, she pulled out a choker leash. Oh, how much Izzy hated those things.

"Deploy banana gun!" Skipper ordered. From the plane, a monkey started firing peeled bananas from a mahine gun. Dubois expertly deflected the bananas with her choker leash and dodged the ones she didn't hit.

"Grab the little guys! Toss 'em up! Let's go! Go, go, go! Go!" Alex yelled. The large animals helped the smaller one onto the chain, Izzy was sent up first to push the smaller animals all the way onto the plane. Once they were on, She looked down and saw Melman was still on the roof with Dubois. The banana gun had broke, so nothing was stopping her. "C'mon, Melman!"

The giraffe lept up and his hoof was caught by Alex. But the brief victory was short lived when Dubois ensnared Melman around his neck with her leash. "Melman!" Gloria screamed.

Alex made a dive for his friend and caught him while being caught by the last monkey on the chain. Dubois kept hold of the leash and stretched Melman's neck. It was so painful. The entire time, the red head had a deadly smirk on her face. The Super Plane dragged the lady to the edge of the building, where she anchored herself by her high heels. "Put your backs into it! Double banana overtime!" Skipper ordered. Bananas fell and dangled over the chimps that were pedaling the plane. The simians were trying like crazy to reach the fruit above their heads, thus giving the plane more power and thrust. Dubois did everything she could to hold the plane. But the force of the air craft was too much and the concrete broke.

Melman was being stretched by his neck as Dubois held onto the leash, refusing to let go of her prize. As the animals flew around Monte Carlo, Alex noticed a building coming to his right. He was able to swing Melman toward the building, causing dubois to let go and crash through the glass. Unfortuneately, She kept chasing through the building and ran out of the other side through a glass window and grabbed the leash again.

"Someone needs to do something!" Izzy yelled from her spot on te plane.

"I agree with the sexy kitty." Julien stated while still in his drugged state of mind. "This lady's really starting to freak me out." He then stepped behind Mort. "Fix it, Mort." And with that, He kicked the mouse lemur off the plane and onto Dubois. Mort did a great job of slowing her down by crawling into her clothes. It must have felt really weird.

Alex finally had an idea. "Here." He told the chimp next him as he handed him Melman's hoof. "Hold this." The lion then went to climb down his friend's body.

"Alex, be careful! She's crazy!" The zebra yelled.

"Ya think, Marty?!" Alex countered. Once he reached the end of Melman's neck, Mort popped out of Dubois's shirt and climbed onto the giraffe. The King of New York then unsheathed one of his claws and cut the leash, sending Dubois down into a swimming pool on top of a roof. "That's right! Home free, baby!" Alex cheered as they flew off.

"I can breathe!" Melman rejoiced.

"Au revoir, Dubois!" Alex yelled.

Izzy breathed a sigh of relif as she yelled, "¡Véale nunca, Señora Loca!" She then helped her friends and the chimps back onto the plane. "That was...wow...increíble!"

"I know, right?" Marty asked. "We seem to be the only animals in the world that have this kind of excitement!"

* * *

¡Esta mujer es o desesperado o loco! Y yo honestamente no sé que es peor. - This woman is either desperate or crazy!And I honestly don't know which is worse.

¡Skipper, haga algo! - Skipper, do something!

The Marty-o Andretti reference is for Mario Andretti, a world famous retired Italian-American race car driver.

¡Véale nunca, Señora Loca! - See you never, Crazy Lady!

increíble - incredible


	3. Circus Stick Together, Not Zoo

They had been flying for several hours when the zoosters decided to sing. Izzy wasn't sure what to think of her friends, but she did like their enthusiasm. They wouldn't stop cheering for their return home.

"Kowalski. Status report." Skipper ordered.

"Well, the good news is this song is almost over." Kowalski stated.

"Well that's music to my ears. And the bad news?"

"The gear assembly is badly damaged, Sir." And with that, a gear sprung loose and ricochet off the steering wheel only to hit Alex and make him pass out. Kowalski continued. "It's only a matter of time before-" The genius penguin never finished as the plane suddenly plummeted to the ground. All the animals grabbed something tyo hold on to while Alex was still passed out.

When they hit the ground, the plane practically exploaded. "Why can't we ever just make a normal landing?" Melman complained as he hung from the tail of the plane.

"Oh, man." Alex groaned as he sat up.

"Hold on, Melman. Okay? I'll get you down, sweetie." Gloria stsated to her boyfriend, who was dangling from the tail of the plane.

"Where is he?" Mort groaned. "Must find King Julien." The little mouse lemur, caught in a pipe, tried to walk around, but fell down and rolled off a ledge and landed on Izzy's stomach.

"¡Oye! ¡Mírelo, usted irritación pequeña estúpida!" The black leopard grumbled as she sat up. When she saw it was Mort, her expression softened a bit. "Sorry, Mort. I didn't realize it was you." She said as she pulled the little lemur out of the pipe. Once he was free,Mort kept up his search for his king. When he found Julien, he ran to him, but he didn't see the other ledge and owound up falling to the ground.

Julien was on a power line holding his tail as if it were a microphone and sang, "_It's getting hot in here. So take off all your fur. I am getting so hot. I want to take my fur off._"

Skipper," Alex sudden spoke. "What about the plane?"

The leader penguin answered with, "Well, the chimps will work through the night. No breaks. No safety restrictions." He turned to find the chimps all running away from the wrecked plane. "Hey, where ya going? Get back here! We have a contract!"

"Yes. Well, I'm afraid labor laws are slightly more lenient in France. You see, they only have to work two weeks a year." Mason explained.

"Well, someone else has the Canadian work ethic!" Skipper complained.

"But you penguins, you can still fix it, right? Right?" Melman asked desperately.

"Yeah, yeah." Alex agreed. "You're a little crackerjack, can-do team."

"You want me to give it to ya straight?' Skipper asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Alex said pointedly. After a moment, he changed his answer. "No." And again. "Bend it a little."

"Well, the plane's totaled." Skippered answered as he kicked random broken parts away. "Kaput, blammo, busted!" He then crossed his flippers. "Never to fly again.

"So that's it? That's it then, we're never gonna get home?" Gloria summerized.

"I'll never get to see New York City?" Izzy asked sadly.

"No!" Alex exclaimed. "We've got to get home! And we're gonna make sure you're there with us, Izzy." After thinking for a few seconds, the lion came up wit a salution. "We can fix it! We'll fix it!" Alex then started grabbing random parts and tried to put them together. "Yeah, guys, c'mon! We'll fix it!" Alex was in denial. "You just start with the outside pieces and work your way in!" The other zoosters and Izzy gathered together with sad looks on their faces, concerned for their friend. "And, yeah, perfect!" The lion looked over and saw his friends. "C'mon! Don't just stand there, guys! Marty! Drag that thingy over here! And we'll just attach it to this dealy-bob over here. And-" Then, whatever Alex had worked on fell apart, as did his spirit. "We're not going home." He concluded sadly. All of Alex's friends came over and hugged him. It didn't do much to help, bu it was appreciated.

Suddenly, sirens caught Marty's attention. "It's the fuzz!" The animals then started to run along the train carts, thinking up different ideas. "What are we gonna do? We can'thid forever!"

"And we can't just blend in! You know this ain't Africa!" Gloria added.

"Oh, what's the point?" Melman complained. "Tell me one conceivable way that extra large animals like us are gonna be able to move through Europe without attracting unwanted attention."

That was when they turned to find a circus cart. Izzy's eyes widened in wonder. "Ah, mi Dios. Es un signo de Maria, ella misma." She whispered.

"Hey..." Alex said. He had the same idea that Izzy had.

Suddenly, a tiger burst out the sliding door with a snarl. It made all the animals jump back. "Where are you coming from?" He asked with a thick Russian accent.

"Please, you gotta hide us. Just until the heat dies down." Alex begged.

"_Absolut_ no outsiders." He said. "So wipe that _smirnoff _your face and_popov_!"

"C'mon, man. You gotta do one cat a solid. Cat to cat. Do a solid here, buddy. Come on." Alex kept rambling as he looked to Izzy for help.

The leopard sighed as she said, "Señor, we need your help. Por Favor?" She thought that maybe asking it simply would work out better.

"_Nyet_!" The tiger exclaimed. Apparently, it wouldn't work out better "This train is for circus animal only." And with that, he slammed the doors shut.

"They sound like they be in trouble." A second voice from behind the door said.

"Stefano, we do not invite trouble into our circus." The tiger said. "I don't trust lion. Hair too big and glossy!"

"Aww, c'mon, Vitaly, you're being mean." Stefano retorted.

"He not lion." Vitaly continued. "He lioness...with a behive." He thenlaughed at his own joke.

"This is awkward." Alex muttered. "We can hear everything they're saying."

That was when the horn for the train sounded off, signaling that it was leaving. As the train started to move, the animals could still hear the tiger continue his rant. "It is not our problem!"

The zoosters then chased the door for the chance to jump in, all the while trying to convine whatever animals inside to listen to them. Suddenly, a sea lion opened the door and smiled nervously. "Just give us a minute. He's on the phone and...can't get him off." He then went back in to continue begging the tiger. "We cannot leave them there!"

"Only circus animals on this train!" Vitaly grumbled.

"Wait, Listen! We are circus animals! You gotta listen to us!" Alex lied. Izzy knew that this could lead to trouble.

The door opened again to reveal a female jaguar with a blue necklace lokking at them questionably. Alex was in complete awe when he saw her. Definitely will lead to trouble. "You are really circus?" She asked. All the animal kept pleading that they were.

"Gia, shut the door!" Vitally demanded.

"Please." Gloria pleaded desperately.

Gia gave one last look to Alex before saying, "They are circus. Circus stick together." Vitaly rolled his eyes as Gia and Stefano helped the animals into the cart.

Stefano held his flipper out to Izzy. When she grabbed it, she grinned and said, "Ringraziarla."

The sea lion smiled and said, "Lei è molto benvenuto." He then pulled into thecart and shut the door. The cart was dark until Stefano lit a lanturn and smiled at the strangers. He chuckled as nervously as the new comers looked. Izzy was sitting sideway in front of Gloria and leaning against the wall. Next to the was Gloria, then Melman, Marty and Alex. Stefano was still a little nervous. Gia just stared at them curiously while Vitaly sent death glares to each of them as he spun a daggar in his left paw.

"Wow! Circus _americano_!" The sea lion exclaimed. "You must all be very famous!"

"Actually," Izzy said. "They are circus _american._ I am circus España_._" The black leopard smiled with Spanish pride.

"Then how you meet?" Stefano asked.

"I was sold." She simply stated. "We were losing money, I was injured, and I was no longer useful to them if I was injured." She then smiled a little. "But Alberto didn't want me sold."

"Who is this 'Alberto'?" Gia asked.

"He was the son of the ringmaster. A sweet eight year old boy. He and I were close. After my injury, he never left my side. My last night with that circus, I slept in his bed with him so we could have one last night together as a family." She then lowered her head. "It broke my heart to see him cry as I left." She then looked back up. "But, I have heard that he is doing good for himself. Almost a man. I am proud of him."

"What about the rest of you?" The sea lion aske the American animals. they rambled into each other.

"We're relatively well known." Alex summerized.

"But Alex is the real star." Marty added.

"Well, I'm not...I wouldn't say "star". More like...well star." The lion explained.

"What is your act, Alice?" Stefano asked curiously.

"Well," He sighed. "I basically, uh, I jump up on my rock..."

"Rock?" Gia asked, really rolling the "R".

"Yeah. It's a very high...rock." Alex added.

"A really high rock." Melman repeated.

"And then?" Stefano asked.

"And then, well, I roar like...like a serious 'Rawrrr'!"

"And then?" Stefano was getting more excited.

"And then I jump off the rock."

"And then?!"

"And then...and then what?"

"That is all?" Gia asked.

"Into a pool!" Gloria said.

"Full of water!" Marty exclaimed.

"Full of cobras!" Melman added.

Alex stood up. "Actually, It appears like I'm jumping into a pool..."

"Full of cobras." Melman repeated.

"Aquatic cobras." Alex falsely corrected. "For effect. But I actually pull up at the last second." Gia looked at Alex in disbelief.

"Pull up?" Stefano questioned. "How do you do that?"

"Wire harness." Melman stated.

"Balloons." Gloria added.

"Jet pack!" Marty exclaimed.

Alex kept stammering over the words until he decided to say, "I flip off the wire harness, ignite my jet pack, and then toss balloons to the children of the world. Kids love it. Kids always love that."

Vitaly humphed before Stefano asked, "Is this like the trapeze?"

"Yes!" Alex pointed. "Trapeze! Exactly!" Gia's face seemed to light up at the mention of trapeze.

"Wow! Trapeze _americano_!" Stefano exclaimed. Hey, I have a great idea! Maybe you come with us to _Roma_!" Vitaly's daggar was thrown right before Stefano's face, blocking his eyes from everyone.

The American animals gasped and jumped back while Izzy just humphed. "Hey, Vitaly is just playing around. He is good, no?"

Izzy sneered. "Typical tiger machoism." She stated.

This caught Vitaly's attention. "What would panther know of machoism? They too girly."

"Did you just call me a panther?" Izzy asked as she stood up.

"Da. It's what you are, no?" The tiger asked in a mocking tone. The zoosters weren't too thrilled to hear Izzy growling.

"I'm a leopard, hombre." She said in a deathly tone as her yellow eyes narrowed.

"Well," Stefano interrupted, trying to change the subject. "Leopard, panther, what real difference besides the spots? Right, Alice?"

"Yeah, um," Alex didn't want to get dragged into this, but he wanted to say something off topic. "But anyway, we're gonna get off at the next stop so we can get back to America."

The whole time, Vitaly and Izzy were staring at each other with death written so clearly in their eyes. But Vitaly stiffened when he heard Stefano. "That is such a coincidence!" Vitaly begane throwing any blade he could get his claws on, the whole, he never broke eye contact with Izzy. Stefano kept speaking, only to stop when Vitaly threw a blade. "Because we're going...we're going...LET ME FINISH!" He yelled at the tiger. "We're going to America, as well!" He then snarled as Vitaly had thrown another knife at him. The zoosters were excited to hear about this, asked if it were true. "Sí." The sea lion answered. "After _Roma_, we go to London." Vitaly started growling as Stefano continued, finally breaking eye contact with Izzy. "And then a big-time promoter will see us and then send us to New York."

"We're going to New York." Alex grinned as the other zoosters laughed. Izz kept her eyes on the tiger, waiting to see his next move.

"Well, only if he likes what he sees." Gia admitted.

"New York? Seriously?" Alex continued excitedly. "That's our home. That's where we live."

"Isn't that fun?" Stefano asked.

"Could we go with you?" Marty asked.

"Sure! You can bunk with Vitaly." Stefano said before Vitaly threw an ax in front of his face. He then threw a daggar over Gloria's head, a forked knife the hold Melman's neck down, two viking style axes to box Marty's head in and finally a spear between Alex's legs. "Or not." Stefano added.

"_Nyet_!" Vitaly hissed venomously. He then stomped toward Alex and Marty before asking, "Which one of you is leader?" Marty, being the first to sell out, pointed at Alex with a smile. Thr lion rolled his eyes. Vitaly then got right up to Alex's face and growled. "Tell your _comrades _there is one rule we do not break!"

"Thou shalt say it and not spray it?" Alex nervously joked as he stood up on the spear to gain ome height against the tiger.

"_Nyet_!" Vitaly was able to stretch just a few more inches to gain the height advantage over Alex. "Circus owner n allow stowaways!" He then gave a menacing chuckle. But all too soon, a chain saw cut a large circle over the tiger's heard and revealed the penguins.

"I hear you, Russkik." Skipper said. "Although though the circus owner may allow stowaways if he stowaways just happen to be the owners. Riddle me that."

Vitaly was completely confused. "What is sharply dressed little birdie talking about?"

"Show 'em, boys." Skipper called through the hole. Mason and Phil showed up with a purse full of diamonds and gold.

Izzy smirked. "I guess we're staying after all, Stripes." She said.

The tiger glared at the leopard before turning around to the wall covered in different blades. "Right, I forgot the one with the big mouth." He then turned back around and threw a daggar right at Izzy. He didn't aim it at her, he aimed for it to hit the wall above her head. Out of habbit, Vitaly said, "I missed."

But he was shocked to find his blade not inbeded in the wooden wall, but rather that it had been caught, by the handle, by the black leopard. "Indeed, you did." Izzy replied before dropping he daggar to the floor. She turned to her friends. "If you need me, I'll be on the roof." She then jumped throug the hole made by the penguins. She looked back at the sea lion and said, "Stefano, ringrazia di nuovo per tirare me su." and with that, she sat down to watch the night sky.

* * *

¡Oye! ¡Mírelo, usted irritación pequeña estúpida! - Hey! Watch it, you stupid little irritation!

Ah, mi Dios. Es un signo de Maria, ella misma. - Oh, my God. It's a sign from Maria, Herself.

ringraziarla - thank you (italian)

lei è molto benvenuto - you're very welcome (italian)

España - Spain

sí - yes

Stefano, ringrazia di nuovo per tirare me su. - Stefano, thanks again for pulling me up. (italian)


	4. When In Rome

Izzy sat on the roof of the train and watched the moonlight and stars. She didn't know what to think of her situation. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the lemurs running toward her. "Miss Kitty!" Mort exclaimed as he lept onto Izzy's lap. The leopard smiled as she held the small lemur. Soon enough, Maurice and Julien sat with her. "Miss Kitty, please sing us a lullaby." Mort asked as he snuggled closer to the big cat.

"Very well, Mort. What shall I sing?"

"The song about everything." The mouse lemur said.

"You like that song, don't you, Mort?" Izzy asked sweetly.

"Yes. He never shuts up about it. It's so annoying." Julien said.

"Very well. I'll sing 'Everything'." The leopard then cleared her throat before she started.

**Find me here **  
**And speak to me **  
**I want to feel you **  
**I need to hear you**

The zoosters could hear there Latina friend singing and decided to listen in.

**You are the light **  
**That's leading me **  
**To the place **  
**Where I find peace **  
**Again**

Gloria and Melman looked at each other and smiled as they heard the lyrics.

**You are the strength  
That keeps me walking  
You are the hope  
That keeps me trusting  
You are the life  
To my soul  
You are my purpose  
You're everything**

Gia and Stefano listened, as well. And they were in awe of the leopard's voice. Even Vitaly's face seemed to soften at the song.

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this  
Yeah**

Mort's eyes were getting heavy. This song always gave him good dreams. Maurice gave a small smile as he heard Izzy. Julien had already fallen asleep and softly snored.

**You calm the storms  
And you give me rest  
You hold me in your hands  
You won't let me fall  
You steal my heart  
And you take my breath away  
Would you take me in  
Take me deeper now**

The penguins were trying to sleep as they heard Izzy singing. Private smiled as he listend in.

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this**

The animals were all listening to Izzy's song and it sounded like a lullaby. It gave them happy thoughts.

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this**

As Izzy was singing, she thought about Alberto. This was the same song she heard him singing to her every night when she was a cub.

**'Cause you're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything  
Everything**

Alberto always took care of Issibah. She was an orphaned cub in need of love and care. And being raised in a circus, there was no love better.

**You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything  
Everything**

**You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything  
Everything**

**You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything  
Everything**

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this**

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better…  
Any better than this**

**And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this**

**Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this**

* * *

Izzy had stayed awake the entire night to watch the stars. When morning came, the train stopped and the chimps appeared dressed as the King of Versailles. She watched how they became the new owners f the circus. But the way the humans so happily sold the circus made her think that something was wrong. Humans were only that happy to sell something when they knew it was a steal. Was something wrong with the circus? She'd worry later. Right now, she needed to get some rest. She always had this problem. If she had too much on her mind, she'd stay awake the entire night and sleep the next day. But she'd be back to normal in a few hours.

After searching before the train took off, Izzy found Gia's personal cart. The jaguar gladly welcomed the leopard in. "So, you are circus España?" She asked before closing th door.

"Yes. Part of the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain. That was where we had our circus." The leopard explained.

"What was your act?"

"Dangerous juggling. I juggle flaming torches, daggars, mostly razor sharp knives of death, anything really."

"Mostly razor sharp?"

"Well, razor sharp means that if I made a mistake, it would make a clean cut. But mostly razor sharp, it's jagged and rusty, it would be stuck in my flesh and any movement would make it much worse. It could cut into my flesh even worse, it could also cut the bone."

"Oh, so it's more dangerous. Interesting." Gia sat in front of her vanity mirror and looked at Izzy's reflection. "By the way, you have a lovely voice."

"Oh, you heard me last night?"

"Sí. You sing in your circus as well?"

"Actually, yes. Sing, play music, dance. I'm Latina. Rhythm is in my blood. Passion for music. Especially samba, salsa and tango." Izzy explained. She was really bonding with Gia. "So, your passion is trapeze?"

"How do you know?" The jaguar asked.

"The way your face lights up at the mere mention. I see it in your eyes, Gia. And it's as strong as the sun's blazing heat. Perhaps more so. If you love the trapeze so much, why don't you do it now?"

"Well, Vitaly believes more in tradition. So, I do the traditional act of the jaguar."

"You shouldn't do something because of tradition or because someone tells you to. You should do it because you love it." Izzy didn't want Gia to be forced into something she didn't want, like she was.

Gia then saw Izzy burn scar. "How did you get that scar?" She asked as she turned to face the other big cat.

"Oh, this? Well, it was my injury. A new clown was to toss me my torches. But before, he was supposed to prepare them. He accidentally sprayed some of the lighter fluid on me. At first, I thought he wouldn't be the same clown to help my act. But when I saw him holding the lit torches during my act, I became nervous. He didn't know how to properly throw them to me, nor did he realize that it was important to know. He just tossed them casually. The third torch was tossed too low and it hit my hip where he splashed the fluid and it burned me. Not only my fur, but my own flesh as well. It took months for my skin to grow back, but my fur never will. But I still juggle, just not the flaming torches."

Gia couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You need to tell this to Vitaly." She said urgently.

"Wait. What?" Izzy thought she hadn't heard correctly. "There is no way I can have a decent conversation with an overgrown pussycat that called me a panther!" The leopard then grumbled to herself.

The jaguar sighed before asking, "Do you wish to know why Vitaly is the way he is?" This caught Izzy's attention. When she nodded, Gia continued as she gazed at an old poster of the circus. "Vitaly used to be the biggest star among us all. That was back when Circus Zaragoza was a great circus. He was fearless. Taking risks. And he always made his act something new. He could jump through hoops almost as if he could fly. It was amazing."

_Vitaly flew through the hoops with pride. After landing, he posed for a few pictures before turning to Stefano. "Stefano! Make the hoop smaller!"_

_"Like this?" The sea lion asked as he held up a hoop a little smaller than the one already set up._

_"Smaller." The tiger said with a grin._

_"Like this?" Stefano then held up an even smaller hoop that seem impossible for Vitaly to go through._

_"Good!" The Russian said. He then popped th top off a bottle of olive oil and poured it all over his body. After smoothing out the fur on his head, Vitaly took off to the hoop. The other circus animals watched with smiles, just as excited as the audience._

_Vitaly jumped and made it through the hoop with opnly a slight squeak. It was amazing._

"It had never been done before because it was physically impossible! And the audience always loved it. People would come from all over Europe just to see Vitaly fly through the small hoops as if it were nothing."

_"Smaller!" Vitaly cried out as he poured two bottles of olive oil on himself. Stefano set up and even smaller hoop, Which Vitaly jumped through with great ease._

"The hoops kept getting smaller and smaller. Until one day it was like a ring on the finger of the tiniest with the slimmest fingers. He just wouldn't stop pushing. And one day...he pushed it all too far."

_Vitaly poured jugs of extra virgin olive oil all over his body and said, "Light the hoop on fire!" The animals gasped. But Stefano did what was asked. When the hoop was lit, it looked like a flame on a birthday candle. The tiger took his stance before taking off to the hoop. He started flipping to gain momentum, and once in the air, he extrended his pointer claw and spun around to go even faster. He made it through the flaming hoop, but..._

"It was as if he flew too close to the sun. He got severely burned. The extra virgin olive oil was extra flammable. And he lost everything. His wife, Natalie, ran away with the musician. He felt as though he lost his dignity, his fame, his passion. But what was clear was that he lost his fur. And when it grew back, it wasn't as soft. It was rough and prickly. His only passion now is eating borscht." Gia then looked over and saw Izzy taking in everything she said. "He was our inspiration. So, you can imagine that when he lost his passion, so did we. This is why you need to talk to him. Tell him how even though you got burned, you didn't give up on your passions. Please, you must."

Izzy looked at Gia and saw the desperation. "Fine. I'll talk to him."

Gia squealed in excitement as she ran over and hugged Izzy. "Ringrazia!"

The jaguar didn't realize how tightly she was squeazing the leopard until she heard her wheeze, "You're...welcome!" Gia let go to let Izzy breathe. "But I'll only talk to him if you let me sleep in here. I can't stay in the same place as my friends. Gloria snores, Melman recites love poems, Marty sings and Alex talks. I need quiet."

"Of course! Take as long as you need, Izzy." Gia said excitedly.

Izzy turned to the jaguar and said, "Thank you. And because I trust you, I'l tell you my real name. The name that Izzy is short for." She then sighed. "Alberto named me Issibah."

Gia smiled. "That's beautiful. Now go on and get your rest." And with that, Izzy leaned against a wall and fell asleep.

* * *

"Izzy. Izzy!" Gia said as she shook the leopard's shoulder.

"Huh? Wha-?" Izzy yawned as she sat up.

"We've made it to Rome." The young jaguar said. Izzy yawned as she stretched before standing. Looking out the open door, her eyes widened. The Colosseum. It was beautiful. She couldn't help but look in awe of the historical momument. "It's incredible, no?" Gia asked with a smile.

"Very much so." Was the leopard's response. Izzy walked outside and the train cart and toward the theater. "Why don't you prepare for the show and I'll catch up later?"

"Okay. And remember, you promised you'd talk to Vitaly." Of course, Gia had to remind her.

"I know. I'll go find him." Izzy couldn't help but feel nervous as she went to find the Russian tiger. After walking around she found the dogs. "Aww. So adorable." She cooed.

The dogs heard this and suddenly got angry. "What's that?!"

"Better think twice!"

"I'll show you adorable!"

The leopard jumped back slightly. "NO! I didn't mean you, Señors. I was just thinking of something else and thought it out loud." The dogs seemed satisfied wit the answer. "Hey, where's Vitaly?" She asked them.

"Probably off eatin' his borscht." The blond dog in a blue dress said.

"Thank you, Señor." Izzy bowed before walking off. She came across the elephants and asked them. They didn't know either. The triplet horses didn't have a straight answer either, but they did pull the leopard off to stand in front of a vanity mirror.

"You have such natural beauty." Esmeralda said.

"It stands out so well." Esperanza commented.

"You just need to own up to it." Ernestina added.

"Señoritas," Izzy sighed. "I appreciate that you want to help me, but I need to find Vitaly."

The triplets all gasped at this. No one ever wanted to see Vitaly willingly. Before they could answer, the tiger in question walked by with a bowl of borscht in his paw. Izzy walked away from the horses and followed Vitaly. "Hey, Stripes!" She called out. The tiger kept going until he reached a prop cart to lean against it and each his food. Izzy walked up and stopped in front of him. "Vitaly, can I talk to you?" The tiger just gave Izzy a glance as he kept eating his borscht. "I'll take that as a 'whatever'. Listen, I know I may have been rude when we first met, so I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Why should I care about what you say?" He asked as he ate.

The leopard was a little offended. "I just want to have a normal conversation with you. Is that so bad?" Vitaly blatantly ignored her, which ate at Izzy's pride. "You know what? Forget I even tried!" She stomped away agrily. "¡El tigre estúpido piensa que es demasiado bueno me escuchar! ¡Ese imbécil borscht-comendo!" The leopard muttered as she spotted Alex and Marty outside the tent.

"The Colosseum, Marty. The original theater-in-the-round. You know my ancestors used to perform here. And I'm pretty sure Izzy's did, too." Alex boasted.

"No kidding!" Marty exclaimed.

"Yeah. Every show had a captive audience. Apparently, they killed." Alex had no idea how right he was.

"Sounds like a great gig." His best friend commented. They walked through the flap that Izzy held open. Once inside the tent, they saw the hustling of the circus animals as they got ready.

While Alex and Marty went in one direction, Izzy found herself walking toward Gloria and Melman. "You look great, guys." She commented. Gloria wore a pink tutu while Melman was wearing several of Stefano's extra collars. "Already circus." She then noticed Melman pickinbg up juggling clubs.

"I think I can do this." He commented.

"It's not as easy as it looks, Melman." The leopard said. But she watched as Melman began to juggle the clubs.

"Hey, honey, look! Look, I'm doing it!" The giraffe exclaimed. Gloria was giggling as she swayed her hips.

"Great job for a first try, Melman." Izzy complimented. She chuckled a little when he dropped the clubs.

"Guys, stop fooling around." Alex said as he rounded a corner.

"We're just having a little fun." Melman explained.

"Sí, Alex." Izzy picked the clubs up and juggled them with ease. "Fun!"

"Let's let these animals do their show." The lion told his friends.

"Ta-da!" They heard Marty exclaime. They all turned to find Marty had been painted white with his head, neck and legs blue and his muzzle red, the white paint was covered in different color polka dots. But what really sold it was the rainbow afro on his head.

"Da-da da-da-da-da-da-da, Circus!  
Da-da da-da-da-da-da-da, Afro!  
Circus Afro  
Circus Afro  
Polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, Afro!"

"Really?" That was all Alex had to say.

"Sonya!" Stefano exclaimed. "Where is Sonya the bear?!"

* * *

¡El tigre estúpido piensa que es demasiado bueno me escuchar! ¡Ese imbécil borscht-comendo! - Stupid tiger thinks he's too good to listen to me! That borscht-eating moron!


End file.
